They actually called it dark heroic fantasy. I just attribute it to the fact that the phrase is itself entirely made up. But of two real genres that they derive things from. Heroic fantasy, better known as Conan, which Dragon Age was heavily inspired by in at least one stage of development, though it later turned away from that design. And dark fantasy, which has the Cthulhu mythos as the most popular example. The darkspawn do seem to fit as dark fantasy elements, but they don't quite dominate Dragon Age enough to define it.